2009
And the Academy selected:
- Penelope Cruz in Nine
- Vera Farmiga in Up In The Air
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
- Anna Kendrick in Up In The Air
- Mo'Nique in Precious: Based On The Novel By Sapphire
My Ranking:
Penelope Cruz, for some reason, had to be nominated once again the very next year after winning an undeserved Oscar - here she plays typical Cruz, a sexy, suicidal drama queen who can't speak English. I'm so sick of watching her shtick played over and over again, her big number probably secured her nomination, but it's dreadful in form and ghastly non-worthy of a nomination.
Anna Kendrick's performance as young power hungry Natalie might have been better had it had better writing and played by someone else other then Anna Kendrick. She tries to play broad comedy, mixed with intelligent sensibilities and the results are expectantly off. It's a tough role to pull off in a bad movie, and she just isn't up to the challenge.
She's just too good to be in such a mediocre mess. The character of Jean is so badly constructed that Maggie can barely do anything to make her more then just a plot device or the 'woman'. Obviously, her talent shines through in many scenes, and it's obvious she is doing the best she can with what she is given. The ending result though however is not that impressive.
Another person who is largely affected by her movie is Vera Farmiga, playing the mysteriously down to earth Alex. She is the movie for me, giving it the only ray of light - showing much depth in a character that may or may not have had it in the first place. Still, she is effected from the overall blehness of the film - disappearing from time to time, and me wishing she was back on.
In the end, there is nothing that can beat her - the shocking horror that Mo'Nique brings to the screen is astonishing. She commands the screen with her fat fist, always ready to punch the viewer whenever we least expect it. Many tout her last scene (which is far and away one of the best scenes ever in this category) but early on, she shows how much hatred and unreal terror the character of Mary has bottled up inside her, finally cracking at the end, and again, keeping it bottled up. It's an amazing, shattering performance that I continue to love.
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Honorable Omissions: Amber Heard in "The Informers".
5 comments:
Mo'Nique is unbelievable. No other option here.
Mo'Nique is the only choice here. Cruz barely does anything, Kendrick is just either obnoxious or amateurish. Farmiga is fine but not amazing, and Gyllenhaal has just too much of a terribly written character.
Monique is amazing.... I really like Kendrick and Farmiga is okay. My thoughts on both of them and Up In The Air constantly change every time I see it.
Cruz is good, but not Oscar good. Maggie is awful in my opinion.
i shouldn't have said awful, I think she is mixed to mediocre.
Well, no surprise here! :-) (But I thought your would praise her more)
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